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How Tennessee beat Notre Dame, Texas A&M beat Duke & more

By Bria Felicien

CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 30: Texas A&M Aggies guard Shambria Washington (4) dribbles the ball in game action during the Women's NCAA Division I Championship - Third Round game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Texas A&M Aggies on March 30, 2019 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 30: Texas A&M Aggies guard Shambria Washington (4) dribbles the ball in game action during the Women's NCAA Division I Championship - Third Round game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Texas A&M Aggies on March 30, 2019 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 08: Kayla Wells (11) guard of Texas A&M during the SEC Women’s basketball tournament between the Auburn Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies on March 8, 2019, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 08: Kayla Wells (11) guard of Texas A&M during the SEC Women’s basketball tournament between the Auburn Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies on March 8, 2019, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Turnovers galore, but rebounding saved Aggies

How did Texas A&M beat Duke despite turning the ball over 22 times? “Basically, look at the boards,” is how head coach Gary Blair started his postgame press conference after a 77-58 win over Duke on Sunday.

Texas A&M out-rebounded Duke 47-28, grabbing 19 offensive board and 13 second chance points. N’dea Jones (6 points) and Ciera Johnson (12p) both grabbed 12 rebounds. Cheah Rael-Whitsitt added nine. Carter finished with 25 points. Shambria Washington with 10 and 9 assists.

In the first half, the Aggies struggled with Duke’s 3-2 zone and passing or driving through the lane. Texas A&M’s 22 turnovers (in comparison, only 11 vs. Team USA) came from lazy passes, passes into traffic, overall carelessness with the ball. The Aggies also forced 18 Duke turnovers.

But the offense that appeared in the second half was completely different.

Duke stayed in the game, only trailing by 10 midway through the fourth, but Texas A&M eventually wore them down, despite being tired themselves. “My little small point guard, and Cheah (Rael-Whitsitt), those are pretty good hands. Chennedy got tired at the end, Kayla got tired, Wilson got tired, but they were hitting some jump shots that we had to hit,” Blair said.

Something to watch: The plays Kayla Wells created for herself came at big moments: Lead extended to 10, lead extended to 12, 14. Often just as Duke was charging back. She finished just behind Johnson with 13 points, and here she helped sealed the game, making the team’s final FG’s.

The Aggie’s next game is another test, a game at Rice (not ranked, but receiving votes) on Sunday. Six games later the Aggies head to USC, which doesn’t leave much time for Texas A&M to “tune up.” It’s a brutal November schedule for Texas A&M, but one Gary Blair hopes will benefit his team come conference play and NCAA tournament.

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